11. October 2023
Aerial photo of Kowloon Walled City in 1989 (Photo: Ian Lambot/Wikimedia Commons)
As evidenced by two recent YouTube videos about Kowloon Walled City garnering millions of views, people's fascination with the lawless enclave that was considered the densest place on earth and was demolished starting in 1993 is unending.
How many other places have been celebrated with articles at twenty years and videos at thirty years — after something was demolished? Such is the appeal of Kowloon Walled City, the dense conglomeration of buildings near Hong Kong's former Kai Tak Airport that was home to approximately 35,000 people over a land area of just 6.4 acres (2.6 ha). With buildings up to 14 stories tall butting up against each other and with scant space for horizontal and vertical circulation, natural light and ventilation, the dense maze of humanity continues to spark amazement because it seems stranger than fiction, unlike anyplace before or since, and because it is a place that can no longer be experienced in the flesh. One has to rely on firsthand accounts, as in books like City of Darkness: Life in Kowloon Walled City by Greg Girard and Ian Lambot, or the many videos that have been posted online in the last decade (many of the videos, it should be noted, pull photos from the incredible City of Darkness). A smattering of those videos is below, moving in reverse-chronological order, from last month to nine years ago. Each video has at least one million views, a testament's to our ongoing fascination with KWC and the desire of filmmakers to tell the story of it.
“The Densest City on Earth” by Neo:
“Kowloon Walled City: Hong Kong's City of Darkness” by Geographics:
“What if You Lived in the Most Crowded Place on Earth?” by RealLifeLore:
“A rare look inside the Kowloon Walled City in 1990” by South China Morning Post:
“Inside Hong Kong's Kowloon Walled City” by South China Morning Post:
“City of Imagination: Kowloon Walled City 20 Years Later” by The Wall Street Journal: